In a perfect world, Aaron Sorkin would do a Star Trek show about Federation politics. Literally a Star Trek: West Wing show. Answer from TheNerdChaplain on reddit.com
Script Magazine
scriptmag.com › features › what-makes-a-good-tv-series-premise
What Makes a Good TV Series Premise? - Script Magazine
April 19, 2011 - This is one reason why pilots should primarily be examples of a typical episode - and not merely the first installment of a long story, which only shows how everybody came together into the current situation.
Fiveable
fiveable.me › all study guides › tv writing › unit 6 – pilot episodes study guides › topic: 6.3
Establishing the show's premise | TV Writing Class Notes |... | Fiveable
August 21, 2024 - Examples include (Stranger Things) and (The Good Place) Typically have clear hooks that immediately grab viewers' attention · Premise provides a more detailed overview of the show's setup and main elements
What's a show premise you want to see be made?
In a perfect world, Aaron Sorkin would do a Star Trek show about Federation politics. Literally a Star Trek: West Wing show. More on reddit.com
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March 5, 2019What is your approach to premise in your writing?
“Premise” and “concept” are interchangeable terms in the industry. And concept is king. Because an executive will have an easier time recommending their boss read a script with a great concept as opposed to a great character or a great world. To break it down to a formula: killer concept + actor bait roles + professional grade execution = sale. (Or at least way better odds of a sale.) So step 1 for me is always figuring out the right concept. As far as TV goes, the big question I ask myself is: does my concept self-generate storylines? I learned the hard way that a pilot script HAS to both set up the show and act as an example of what future episodes will be like. A few years back I wrote a modern day version of the Camelot myth where the knights were the villains and Guinevere was the hero. The script was fun enough to get me a lot of meetings, but it never sold. Because no one (myself included) could say what episode 2 or 5 or 50 would look like based on the pilot. So for the next project I took out after that, I went for something where there was a REALLY clear story engine powering the show. It was an adaptation of a book about a guy who spends his afterlife being bounced into the bodies of bad guys and having to right their wrongs, like “Quantum Leap” meets “Dexter.” That premise always provided a clear answer as to what episode 2 or 5 or 50 would be like. And while it never got made, that one did find a buyer. And was much easier to pitch. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk More on reddit.com
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February 13, 2023What TV show had an amazing premise and DID stick the landing?
The Americans comes to mind right away—it took the idea of a seemingly normal family living double lives as Soviet sleeper agents and all of the complications that come with that, and it fucking nailed it right up through the end. More on reddit.com
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July 1, 2023When you pitch a TV show, do you lead with the premise or character?
I’ve been converted to Carole Kirschner’s strategy for TV pitches. She likes to lay them out like this: INSPIRATION STORY HOOK LOGLINE (include genre/tone) MAIN CHARACTER(S) TONE WORLD STORY ENGINE/STRUCTURE PILOT STORY SEASON ARCS CODA You can watch a little video about it here . More on reddit.com
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February 16, 2024Videos
00:45
The Premise Season 1 Teaser | 'Characters' | Rotten Tomatoes TV ...
02:40
The Premise Season 1 Trailer | 'The Anthology of Now' | Rotten ...
THE PREMISE Series | Season 1 First Look Promo (HD) FX
THE PREMISE Series | Season 1 Promo '- Characters' (HD) FX
The Premise | Official Trailer: Anthology of Now - Season 1 | FX
You're The Best | The Premise - Season 1 Ep.4 | FX
No Film School
nofilmschool.com › premise-of-a-movie
How Do You Define the Premise of a Movie or TV Show? | No Film School
Take a look at the infographic below, which gives you some ways yo structure your premise when you're speaking about your movie or TV show.
Published October 6, 2024
Screenwriting
screenwriting.io › home › answers › what is a premise pilot?
A premise pilot establishes the premise of a show | Screenwriting.io
November 3, 2021 - A premise pilot, as its name suggests, is a TV pilot that establishes the premise of a show. In the Lost pilot, for example, the plane crashes on the island, and the passengers are lost.
In a perfect world, Aaron Sorkin would do a Star Trek show about Federation politics. Literally a Star Trek: West Wing show. Answer from TheNerdChaplain on reddit.com
Reddit
reddit.com › r/television › what's a show premise you want to see be made?
r/television on Reddit: What's a show premise you want to see be made?
March 5, 2019 -
It seems we're running into a few revivals of old properties the last couple years. We have Wonder Years, Equalizer, a new Dexter, Sex and the City, Mighty Ducks, iCarly, Saved By The Bell, True Blood,....the list goes on and on.
That being said, what are some show premises that haven't been touched or not touched on enough?
For example, I know we have "Turn: Washington's Spies" but I honestly don't recall a regular series that goes into the Revolutionary War or even the Civil War.
Movies? Sure. Maybe a mini-series here and there but I'm honestly surprised there hasn't been more television properties based upon these wars especially since there's endless amounts of stories and historical characters to go off of.
What are some little explored premises/settings that you want to see on TV instead of reboots and spin-offs?
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In a perfect world, Aaron Sorkin would do a Star Trek show about Federation politics. Literally a Star Trek: West Wing show.
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When The Hateful Eight movie was coming out. I thought it was gonna be Clue but in a cabin in the snow. It wasn't. But I think that would be a good miniseries. People dying left and right till only two remain. Mystery. Short and sweet. Be fun. Or something in general like Clue. People arrive and slowly there are fewer ;)
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › The_Premise
The Premise - Wikipedia
December 21, 2025 - The website's critics consensus reads, "A mixed bag of good intentions that ultimately falls flat, The Premise's attempts to grapple with complex social issues aren't funny enough to work as satire, but lack the dramatic heft necessary to be satisfying melodrama."
John August
johnaugust.com › home › qanda › television › premise pilots
Networks hate premise pilots - John August
November 4, 2021 - Both of these are examples of One New Guy. In Party Down, the newbie is more central to the action, but it’s not his show. You could do an episode without him, but you probably wouldn’t do an episode that focused on him but not the rest of the cast. I’ve written one pilot of each type. D.C. is clearly a premise pilot: the gang meets and moves into the house.
Digital Spy
digitalspy.com › tv › digital spy features › 7 tv shows that radically changed premise and literally flipped the script
7 TV shows that radically changed premise and literally flipped the script
September 10, 2024 - But then in the season 4 finale, the show put Angel and his team in charge of the LA branch of the very law firm they had been fighting. So season five saw them work there instead, while Angel attempted to turn the firm into a force for good.
Quora
quora.com › What-s-a-good-example-of-a-TV-show-with-a-simple-straightforward-yet-intriguing-premise
What’s a good example of a TV show with a simple/straightforward yet intriguing premise? - Quora
Answer (1 of 3): I would certainly nominate the Netflix original series, Messiah (2020), starring Mehdi Dehbi. Though I am looking at it through the lens of an atheist, the premise of this show is intriguing as hell — a man appears today who his followers claim is the Messiah, though he never di...
Reddit
reddit.com › r/screenwriting › what is your approach to premise in your writing?
r/Screenwriting on Reddit: What is your approach to premise in your writing?
February 13, 2023 -
I've just been reading through The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri, and if you know the work, you'll know that he spends a great deal of time on premise and how essential it is. What's your approach? Do you establish a premise and seek to write to it or do you start writing first and hope to reach a premise that will then inform the rest of the work?
When Egri was writing he was specifically advising on playwriting. I'm presently developing a TV show and would be interested to hear your thoughts on how you might apply your premise to a several season arc, a single season and a single episode. Would your episode be only a partial presentation of the overall premise or would you be repeating the premise in some way in every episode?
This is just to generate a general discussion. I'd be interested in everyone's thoughts on the significance of premise.
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“Premise” and “concept” are interchangeable terms in the industry. And concept is king. Because an executive will have an easier time recommending their boss read a script with a great concept as opposed to a great character or a great world. To break it down to a formula: killer concept + actor bait roles + professional grade execution = sale. (Or at least way better odds of a sale.) So step 1 for me is always figuring out the right concept. As far as TV goes, the big question I ask myself is: does my concept self-generate storylines? I learned the hard way that a pilot script HAS to both set up the show and act as an example of what future episodes will be like. A few years back I wrote a modern day version of the Camelot myth where the knights were the villains and Guinevere was the hero. The script was fun enough to get me a lot of meetings, but it never sold. Because no one (myself included) could say what episode 2 or 5 or 50 would look like based on the pilot. So for the next project I took out after that, I went for something where there was a REALLY clear story engine powering the show. It was an adaptation of a book about a guy who spends his afterlife being bounced into the bodies of bad guys and having to right their wrongs, like “Quantum Leap” meets “Dexter.” That premise always provided a clear answer as to what episode 2 or 5 or 50 would be like. And while it never got made, that one did find a buyer. And was much easier to pitch. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk
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To me, premise relates to theme, and both are somewhat vague/overlapping concepts. I often discover theme only after I've written the story. Craig Mazin (HBO’s Chernobyl and The Last of Us and the Scriptnotes podcast) says structure is all about theme. He says it’s about asking what your character believes at the beginning, and what you want that character to believe at the end. The structure of a script thus arises out of the character confronting, and wrestling with, that thematic question. He talks about it here: https://johnaugust.com/2019/scriptnotes-ep-403-how-to-write-a-movie-transcript Another way to think about premise is "what is your story REALLY about," which often means addressing a theme or subject metaphorically. For example, there are thousands of stories about vampires. These can be "really" about any number of things, including: fear of immigrants racial discrimination AIDS or other STDs fear of sexuality obsession with virginity and its loss; controlling the sexuality of women sexuality as empowerment celebrating LGBTQ sexuality the morality of being a carnivore the ennui of eternal life sexual harassment/assault conflicts within and between minority communities
Reddit
reddit.com › r/television › what tv show had an amazing premise and did stick the landing?
r/television on Reddit: What TV show had an amazing premise and DID stick the landing?
July 1, 2023 -
You saw the post asking about tv shows that had good premises but didn't stick the landing.
So I wanted to copy it and flip it on it's head.
My pick would be breaking bad. A school chemistry teacher, finds out he has terminal cancer. This with financial troubles, makes him decide to start cooking and selling crystal meth to secure his family's future.
Sounds good. And it is.
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The Good Place - it weaves a philosophically rich and meaningful story while also being a heartfelt character study and deeply funny. It’s not afraid to blow its premise up and explore different narrative routes, and the conclusion was so poignant, the finale is one of my favorite ever and has such great wrap up for all the characters.
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The Americans comes to mind right away—it took the idea of a seemingly normal family living double lives as Soviet sleeper agents and all of the complications that come with that, and it fucking nailed it right up through the end.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Premise_(narrative)
Premise (narrative) - Wikipedia
January 7, 2026 - Wikipedia does not have an article on "premise (narrative)", but its sister project Wiktionary does:
IMDb
imdb.com › title › tt10731840
The Premise (TV Series 2021) ⭐ 6.7 | Comedy, Drama
September 16, 2021 - Unlike Black Mirror which is full science fiction, The Premise is pure fiction but tries to imagine scenarios that would be outlandish and crazy, but could actually exist and happen in real life. Furthermore each episode seems so unlikely to ever happen in real life it is hard to believe. The Acting is great. The actresses and actors chosen in each episode is the main strength to this show.
StudioBinder
studiobinder.com › how to write a tv show logline [logline examples and formula] — tv writing & development: ep4
How to Write TV Show Loglines [Examples & Formula]
April 22, 2025 - We’re in a golden age of TV writing and development. More and more people are flocking to the small screen to find daily entertainment. So how can you break put from the pack and get your idea onto the small screen?
Ludwig
ludwig.guru › s › the+premise+of+the+show
the premise of the show | Meaning, Grammar Guide & Usage Examples | Ludwig.guru
January 11, 2017 - The premise of the show is that Adam West plays an out-of work actor who used to be a cop on television. ... News & MediaThe Guardian - TV & RadioShow more...
Variety
variety.com › 2021 › tv › reviews › the-premise-bj-novak-fx-on-hulu-1235058878
B.J. Novak's 'The Premise' Anthology Series: TV Review
September 9, 2021 - Lange’s character’s finding himself even amidst a yearlong humiliation might be the beginning of something interesting. But there’s a sourness at “The Premise’s stagy astonishment at this fellow’s knowing who Veblen is — stopping the proceedings for his whole, very long, pitch — before slotting him back in his place.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/screenwriting › when you pitch a tv show, do you lead with the premise or character?
r/Screenwriting on Reddit: When you pitch a TV show, do you lead with the premise or character?
February 16, 2024 -
Basically we'll be joining a local pitch fest, and i have an idea about a group of kids who were taken hostage. And we are given only 5 minutes to sell our idea.
Personally, i felt i should start with the unique selling point of the concept. But my friend says that the panel will be looking for likability in the lead character, so i should lead with that (we are basing it on this Youtube video about the Breaking Bad pitch).
Im new to this. I did a couple of writing jobs already, locally. Its just that im not good at pitching. So can anyone share their opinion. If this were you, what would you do?
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I’ve been converted to Carole Kirschner’s strategy for TV pitches. She likes to lay them out like this: INSPIRATION STORY HOOK LOGLINE (include genre/tone) MAIN CHARACTER(S) TONE WORLD STORY ENGINE/STRUCTURE PILOT STORY SEASON ARCS CODA You can watch a little video about it here .
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It all depends on your script. Put your best foot forward. If it’s a character study then lead with the character. If it’s more high concept then lead with the concept. For example. I wouldn’t pitch Inception by talking about DiCaprio’s character (in-fact, I can’t even remember his name)
IMDb
imdb.com › title › tt10731840 › episodes
The Premise (TV Series 2021) - Episode list - IMDb
September 16, 2021 - The Premise (TV Series 2021) - Movies, TV, Celebs, and more...
Quora
quora.com › Has-there-ever-been-a-TV-show-that-started-with-one-premise-but-slowly-over-time-changed-so-that-when-it-finally-wrapped-the-premise-was-completely-different-from-what-it-started-with
Has there ever been a TV show that started with one premise, but slowly over time changed so that when it finally wrapped, the premise was completely different from what it started with? - Quora
Answer (1 of 11): The Big Bang Theory (TV Series 2007–2019) The premise of the show was two socially awkward nerds, Leonard and Sheldon, who get a new neighbour in the form of a pretty outgoing young lady by the name of Penny.
Arc Studio
arcstudiopro.com › blog › what-makes-a-great-tv-show
What Makes a Great TV Show? - Arc Studio Blog
In contrast, episodic TV shows, like Star Trek: The Next Generation, House M.D., or Poker Face, generally allow for standalone episodes. ... A serialized TV premise can focus more on a single story, but when writing an episodic show, it is crucial to have a robust "story engine," which gauges how your central premise can perpetually generate new storylines.